Process of making balloons.



. VANIMAN.

PROCESS OF MAKING BALLOONS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR.19,1912.

Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

3 BHEETS-BHEET 1.

WITNE88E8 ATTORNEY M. VANIMAN.

PROCESS OF MAKING BALLOONS.

APPLICATION rum) MAR. 19, 1912.

Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

B SHEETSBHEET 2.

,4 TTOHNEY M. VANIMAN.

PROCESS OF MAKING BALLOONS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.19,1912.

Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

at A".

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVIN VANIMAN, OF ATLANTIC CITY, NEW '0' ERSEY, ASSIGNOR T INTERNATIONAL AERQNAUTICAL:GONS'IRUGTION COMRANY, ,A CORPORATION 0J5 MAINE.

BROGESS "0E. IIAKING BALLOONS.

-- Speciflcation of Letters-Patent.

-.-PatentedDec.-16, 1913.

Application filed March 19,1812. Serielflo. 684;,8,Q4.

,To allv whom it mar concern Be .it known that I, MELVIN .VANIMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident .of Atlantic .City, inthe county of Atlantic andState of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Balloons, of which the .following is .a specification.

In an application filed by meon January 0:-29th, 1912, under-Serial No. 674,009, I have described a ,balloon consisting of .an inner \gas.bag,.a series oflongitudinal strips of fabric thereon containing parallel wires running lengthwise ofthe structure and. a.hel1- -cal winding of the .same fabric superposed .on the longitudinal strips,.thus;giving great .strength to thestructure against both longitudinaland circumferential strains.

The object of my .presentinvention is to :devise. a balloon and a-method of building thesame bywhich theinner gas bag forms no part. ofthe final balloon, thus decreasing the total weight of the balloon bythe weight of the: bag, and to also change the structure of the balloon, which now principally consists ,of two wired layers, to make it better able .to withstand the actionofthe inflatinggas .uponit, all of'whichwillsoon appear from the followingdrawings, in which Figure liisa sideelevation of theforming bag. Fig-2 is. a side .elevationof this bag with .the longitudinal strips of-fabric, applied thereto. -Fig.3 is a Stdeelevationof the balloon with the. helical: winding. of .wire

fabric superposed upon the longitudinally the forming bag deflated. =Fig. 8 is a crosssection of the air lock and IIlGtlIlS'fOl inflating. Fig; 9 is a face view of the devices for closing thehole shown in Fig.8, and Fig. 10 is a cross-section thereof.

The'forming bag A has connected thereto an inflating pipe. or extension tube A which can be constricted and hermetically closed I cover this inflated forming bag with longitudinally applied strips of fabric B, as shown inFig. 2, and I cement and ramie fiber.

.overlaptheedges-B of this fabric,.to secure greater strengtlnas shown in Fig. 4. ThereuponI wind upon the balloon a helical se- -It1es.of.turns.of the same fabric, as at B .wlth the edges also cemented and overlapped, and such winding I preferably effect bythe. apparatus shown in my application Serlal No. 684,825, filedMarch 19, 1912. In

fact, as will ,appear from that application,

I vulcanize the outerhelical layer.to .the.in .ner layer so that these two layers form, in effect, an integral mass or structure.

'The fabricB whichI preferably employ .is showmin cr0ss1section in Fig- 6, and con- .sists of parallel,-.longitudinal wires'B" as wellas longitudinal threads of ramiefiber 'B and of .weftsofcotton-thread B. :The piano wire gives enormous strength .and this is helped to a considerable extent by the The cotton weft, however, is useful because it takes the vulcanizingmate- .rial and I mayuse as a substitute for such cotton any other thread which takes vulcanizing compound. Since the.. strain :in elongated balloons in a circumferential direction .isubout twice that which exists longitudinally, I use the wires or ramie fiber of appropriate size and number to produce twice the tensile strength in the helical layer ,asimthe longitudinal layers. My fabric, it

will be .observed, has the 'strcngth'giving .stnands, whether of wire or fabric, in ethe longltudmal direction only. My elongated balloon is thusmade of maximum strength fonthe minimum of weight by the expedient 190 of the two longitudinal and helical-layers ,of :fabric, .with about twice the tensile strength in the helical winding.

I now have a ;forming bag inflated with air and a-balloonstructurc consisting oftwo .crossed layers .of "fabric intimately united and lying upon the forming .bag. It becomes necessary-to coat ,the inside of this .balloonstructure with a .substance which will prevent the gas, with which the balloon is finally inflated, from escaping therethrough. To this end I permit theforming bag to become deflated by allowing air to escape from it by partially removing the constriction at A But if this were all, the pressure of the external atmos here would cause the balloon structure to collapse. This would bend and distort the wires therein contained 130- such an extent as to rob the balloon of the very strength these wires are intended to impart upon subsequent inflation. To avoid this I cause air, under pressure, to be forced into'the space between the outside of the forming bag and the inside of the balloon structure at the same rate at which the air leaves the forming bag. In fact matters are so arranged that the pressure of the air entering between the forming bag and the balloon structure drives the air out of the formingbag, which insures that the inside pressure keeping the balloon from collapsing is always at work. To effect this result, I cut anaperture in the balloon, but, in order that the strength may not be impaired by the-consequent cutting of the wires, 1 apply to the opening two rings C C which clamp the two layers of the balloon fabric firmly therebetween. I may use projections C on one of the rings taking into a countersink on the other ring to more effectively prevent the wires from pulling out and I use bolts and nuts C to hold the rings firmly pressed together. When the time comes to finally close the opening, I use a plate C held against the ring C by springs C surrounding screws C which are threaded in thering C, a gasket C being added to make a gas-tight joint.

In order that air may be forced into the space between the forming .bagA and the balloon structure B B I secure to the ring C, in an air-tight fashion, a flexible cloth pipe D connected with the chamber D which is connected with an air-lock Dthaving doors D D By a suitable pump, which I have thought it unnecessary to show but which is connected with the chamber D, the air gradually passes to the place desired, and the air bag A gradually collapses. I may send men on the inside of the balloon structure to gradually fold up the forming bag into a small and compact bundle as indicated in Fig. 7 while it is in process of collapsing. It is now time to coat the inside of the balloon with some cementing substance or varnish which is impervi-- always conduct their operations at the bottom where they have a footing. During the time they are at work, the inside of the balloon is filled with air under a pressure suflicient to keep it from collapsing.

Although Imay use any well-known ma-v terial for the purpose of coating the inside of my balloon, I prefer to use a mixture of gelatin and glycerin to which may be added forming bag at the same time.

roamea I have dis-- escape of gas, while its pliable nature is also of value for my purposes.

In case the inside of my balloon is coated with a substance which will adhere to the forming bag, when this is again inflated, I may cover the surface of this bag with French chalk or the like to prevent such adherence. This being understood, and it being assumed that the applied coating is sufficiently dry, the air lock D is put in place, the cover C is removed, the men are taken out of the balloon and the forming bag is gradually inflated, it bein desirable to send workmen on the inside 0 the forming bag to see that it inflates properly in all irections. The purpose of this inflation is to force all the air out of the inside of the balloon and at the same time to keep the balloon under a suflicient internal pressure to prevent it collapsing.

The final step of my process consists in having the hydrogen supplied to the chamber D under suflicient pressure to pass between the outside of the forming bag A and the inside of the balloon structure, the air being permitted to escape at A", from the on the inside of the forming bag fold up the same, nicely, during this operation, and finally pass it down into the chamber D whereupon the cover C is put in place and the air lock is removed and the result is that my balloon which consists of-two crosslayers of fabric, each containing longitudinal threads or wires together with a gas-tight coating on the inside is, substantially, in its finished state and carries its lifting quantity of hydrogen under the appropriate pressure. The outside of the balloon may naturally be coated with any suitable substance as is the case with other balloons.

I claim: I

1. The process of building a-ba'lloon of a collapsible type which is injured if collapsed which consists in inflating a forming bag, building the balloon thereupon, deflating the forming bag and simultaneously inflating the balloon, and finally removing the forming bag, substantially as described.

2. The process of building and coating the inside of a balloon which consists in inflating a forming bag, building the balloon thereupon, deflating the forming bag and simultaneously inflating the balloon with air, and coating the inside of the balloon with a gas tight composition while the same is filled with air and the forming bag iscollapsed, substantially as described.

3. A. process of building a balloon, coat: ing the inside and inflating it with gas which consists in inflating a forming bag, building the balloon thereupon, deflating the Workmen forming bag and simultaneously inflating In testimony whereof, I have signed my the balloon with air, coating the inside of the name to this specification, in the presence of balloon with a gas-tight composition, inflattwo subscribing witnesses.

ing the forming bag to expel the air from MELVIN VANIMAN. the balloon and finally filling the balloon Witnesses: with gas and simultaneously deflating the FLORENCE A. JONES,

air bag, substantially as described. W. ZIMMERMAN. 

